Crate



oct. 1s, 1923. 1,411,232

A F. c. BARTLETT CRATE Filed Oct. 28. 1922 2 Sheets-Shale?. 1

Oct. 1e, 1923.` 1,471,232

F. C. BARTLETT nATE Filed Oct. 28. 1922 2 Sheets-Shoo; 2

`Patented Oct. 16, 1923.

UNITED-STATES TENT rice.

F CROMWELL, IOWA.

CRATE yAppleation filed, October 28 Toallwho'm it may concern:

fuse, in fshipping hogs or other live stock.

13e itlrnown that I, F RED C. BAR'rin'r'r, a citizen of the. United States, residing at Cromwell, in the county of Union and State of-Iowa, have invented certain new and u'se fullmprovements in Crates, ofl which the following is asp'ecification. I,

This Y invention relates to knock-down,y crates and is-ir'itended more` particularly for Y- The object Aof the invention. isto providea crate of inexpensiveconstruction which may -oiafccidentally collapsed. The stated objects andother objects which'will inciden- Y lowing the description.

tallyi'appear in the course of the following description are attained in the use of such a construction as is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and the invention resides in certain novel features which will be particularly pointed outin the claims. fol- AIAIn, the drawings-v .-,Figure 1 is a perspective view of ,one end of the crateras it yappears when set up for 4 Fig 2 is a similar view showing the crate inlnocked-down o-r collapsed condition, the interinediateportions of the side members of the. crate. being brokenaway in order that substantially the entireV portion of the crate maybe illustrated;

e QFig. Q3 is'angenlargedv front elevation of ene corner ofthe end frame;

,- Fi-g.i 4- enlarged longitudinalsection of,thesame;l f f j Fig, 5 is a perspective view of another corner o'fjtheend frame;-

i toldedto the collapsed form;-

F'g. 6 isafperspe'ctive view of a corner of the end Yframe showing the same partly Fig.. 7.is anY lenlarged detailfperspective viewrof thevclasp by'fwhich the braces are held in place when the Crate is set up;

' i. Fig', 8-.is avperspectiv'eview of. one en of another form of the4 crate, and

ig.; 9 is adetail perspective view of al footorrsupport which may be employed.

lThe end members of thecrate consists pri- 1922. seriai No. 597,536.

marily of angle irons` 1 ofproper length, four of such angle irons being employed asis obvious. In the form of the invention illustrated in Fig. l, the top and the' two sides of the crate are constructed of boards or slats 2 which extend.:longitudinally of the crate-and have their ends riveted or otherwise secured tothe longitudinally extending. webs of the angle iron members of vthe end lframes, and in both illustrated vforms of the invention the bottom 3 is a board co-extensive in area. with the bottom of the' crate.

The several angle iron members of the' end frame are connected at their'meeting ends by hinges or clasps S0 that, when the crate is to be collapsed, the said members may be readily folded or swung about each other Vso as to be brought' into compact*l superposed form. The hinged connections` may beconveniently formed by providing a transverse slot i in 'one end member and Y forming a hook or bead 5 upon the meeting' end of the adjoiningr end member to be en`` raged through the said slot, as will be readily understood. The transverse webs of the angle iron members are beveled or cut away on inclined lines attheir ends, as shown .at 6, whereby the said webs may abut and the adjoining members be disposed Iat a right angletoeach other. 'It will also be readiliv noted that the slotted end of each member is projected somewhat beyond Athe beveled end ofthe transverse web thereof, presenting a tongue 7 so-that. the `hinge connection will be laterally beyond the abutting faces of the frame" members and will, therefore, permit the members to be brought into juxtaposition so that ytheywill mutually reinforce and brace each other when the crate is set up for use. The hinge connections are provided at both lower corners of the endfra'me andfat one upper corner, while at the oppo` site upper corner, the top frame member 8 is provided' with a terminal extension o r tongue 9 adapted to pass through the slot llleprovided therefor in the abutting side frame 'member and'provided with a perforation 11 to receive a Cotter pin, or other fastening 12;V The top frame member 8, in the form illustrated in Fig. 1, is also provided with a slot 13 extending lengthwise of the said member' at the center thereof to receive a board 14 which constitutes a closure or door for the end `of the crate, and this board 14 is inserted downwardly noy but it will be understood thatthe vbaclr end through the said slot so that its lower end will rest'` upon fthe bottom'Bb the crate against the'inner face of the -vertical transH versely extending web of the vbottom l'i L member l5. Braces are provided to prevent lateral spreading of the sides of the crates, andthesebraces consist of stout wires or rods 16 which have their Vend portions dif verging from their centers and provided with terminaleyesor hooks 17 adapted .to be' engaged through openings 18 in the transverse webs yof the yside frames 1 and 19. The said-braces are shape/dto present short. straight portions at their centers and upon the central straight'portion of one brace is fitted clasp or hoolLQO which is adapted to engage around fthe corresponding portion of the other brace, as shown in Fig. 1, wherebythe braces Iwill ,be held together and will effectively 'resist'4 any ltendency the sides of the crate to spread apart. In Fig. l, I have'shownvonly the front end ofthe crate,

of' thecrate is a duplicate in construction oitl the front. endivthereof softhat illustration of the sameis unnecessary. i'

When thecrate is to ybe used, it isset up, as shown in Fig.' 1, and ythe back end is com pleted by the insertionV of f the ,board 'or door 14. and the 1engagement of the clip 20Y with the braces 16. The hog or othei'ianimal is then driven into the crate through the frontend thereof and the front door or closure 14 is inserted, after which the braces 1G are swung to position across the end of the crate and Afastened in that position'by the adjustment of the clampfor hook 20. The cratemay theniberloaded onto a Awagon or truck andthe animal transported to market, lVhen the anima-l has been delivered, the crate may be readily ycollapsed or'knocled down so as tobe'returned tothe original shipper. To accomplish this end, the key or Vother fastening 12 is withdrawn soVv that thel side frame member 1V may be swungA away from Vthe top Atrame member 8, it being understood, of course, that the 'door 14 has been previously withdrawn and the clamp 2O disengaged from the bracey V with which lits vfree end ce;operates.y The top trame member 8 is vthen swung` about its VVVhinge connecn tion with theside frame member 19 so' as to lie againstthe latter at the outer side'of the same. The said'top 'lrame member may then be placed upon the ground or upon the floorvof a carforother veliiclevin'which the vreturn shipment isY tobe made,- the bot- 'Y tom of; the crateibeinghthus brought`V into an upright position. The sideframeinember 1 mayy thenbefswung about its" hinged connection with the bottom; frame member. 15 sov asv yto liel `against vthe outerl side'thlereof, afterrwhichnthemembers 1 and l5 may be swung dow'nwardlyinto alinement with the members 149 and 8, as shown in- Fig. '2. The

braces lmay thenV be swung over upon the side members, whereupon thedevice will be ready for the return shipment. ltfwill be readily noted that, in the collapsed condition,

the cratejoccupies very little space so that' a large number may be returned at one time with minimum changes for transportation. Furthermore, a large number of theA crates Amay be: stored in 'afbarn or other store room without occupying a great part of the space therein rso that they will be out oftheway.

until again needed for use. If a further economy of space is desired, the several end ramemembers may be readily'detaclied'in asmuch'as the members of the hingecennections may be easily disengaged andthe sides and top ofthe crate mayfthenfbeeasily piled uponthe bottom of the crate;V

in the Viorin of the invention illustrated in Fig.' 8, the top, sides and ends ofthe tcrate Vconsist oi wire-mesh fabric or'interwoven `which the fabric panelsmayy be attached. l`

have also shown the doorjas consisting of a substantiallyY rectangular rtraine offlatbars Qfto which theedges of the Awoven Vfabric vare secured and have valso shown" it as hingedly connected to Ythe bottom 'oi `the end frame by eyesor rings 24' fitted through openings Vprovided for that purpose in the i'espective'trame members The :braces 25 in this embodiment of the .invention have y their lowerfends suitably engaged'with the bottom memberv of the endyfraine`- and their upper ends engaged oversutable pins on the top"v member of the end trame, vPivoted clip plates or latches Q6 are provided upon the f top member oit' the end frame to extend over the pins and thereby prevent'accidentalrelease of; the braces, and a. similarfplate 27 is mounted upon Lthe topfmember of the end frame at the center thereotto `engage over the top edge of the door. andaid the bracesV in preventing accidental opening of the door;

The crate may rest directly upon the bottom members of the end trames-but ifit be desired to have the ,crate supported withgits bottom above the bottom offthe wagon"y or other supporting structure, 1feet 28 maybe provided. "One 'of 'theseffeet isvillustrated in Fig. gend 'consists o 'a sui'tablyrshaped casting having an `opening 219- throughfonje endfto permit the insertion t of a.' fastening device into theL bottom of the crate and having its opposite end offset downwardly, as

shown at 30, so as to provide a lug Which may rest directly upon the iioor of the Wagonv or other support.

In both illustrated forms Vof the invention, it will be noted that the structure provides for a free circulation of airy through the crate so that in hot weather the discomfort of the animals will be minimized, and this open construction facilitates cleaningof the crate and the destruction of any germs which may have found lodgment therein. The open construction illustrated also reduces the weight from what it would be if It will, of course, be understood that .changes may be made in the minor details of'construction without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as the same is defined in the followingrclaims. The door may be provided at one end only and may be inserted through the side instead of through the top and the form shown in Fig. 8 may be equipped with a sliding door instead of a hinged door if preferred.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

l. A'knock-down crate consisting of end frames each composed of a plurality of frame members hingedly connected at their meeting ends, means for preventing separation of said frame members when the crate is set up for use, side, top and bottom mem-k bers secured to and extending between the corresponding members of the end frames,

and closures for the end frames. Y

2. A crate'comprising end frames each consisting of a plurality of angle bars having the ends of their transversely extendin webs beveled whereby they may abut an permit the members to be assembled in right angular relation, hinge connections between the meeting ends of said angle bars, a bottom having its ends secured to the longitudinally extending webs of the bottom member of the end frames, side members secured to the longitudinally extending webs of the side members of the end frames, a top secured to the longitudinally extending webs of the top members of the end frames, closures for the end frames, and means carried by the end frames to prevent collapse of the crate when the same is set up.

3. A crate comprising end frames each consisting of a plurality of angle bars, each angle bar being provided with a transverse slot in one end of its longitudinally extending web and at its opposite end with a transversely disposed hook adapted to be engaged through the slot in the meeting end of an abutting angle bar whereby the several angle bars will be hingedly connected, a releasable connection between the meeting ends of two of the angle bars, a top, bottom and sides secured to and extending between the corresponding members of the end frame-s, closures removably fitting in the end frames, and means carried by the end frames to retain said closures in closed position and lprevent spreading of the end frames.

'4. A crate comprising end frames each consisting of a plurality of angle bars having the longitudinally extending webs of adjacent angle bars hingedly connected at their meeting ends, a top, a bottom and sides secured to and extending between the corresponding members of the end frames, closures fitting through the top members of the end frames and resting upon the bottom members thereof, bracing rods having their ends engaged in the side members of the end frames and converging toward their centers, and a locking connection mounted upon the central portion of one of said bracing rods and detachably engaging around the central portion of the other bracing rod.

In testimony whereof I aiix my signature.

FRED' C.. BARTLE'IT. [L 5.] 

